The purple is distinctive. I like that Northwestern is embracing it instead of trying to diminish it. NU is trying to establish more of a brand, at least in the Chicago area, and this is almost as eye-catching and unique as Smurf Turf. Thumbs up.

As I was driving home from the airport last night, I noticed the NW football billboard on the side of I-294 which stated, "Northwestern - Chicago's Big Ten Football Team." Yeah, take that notre dame and Illinois!!!

(and I'm pretty sure the sign has been up for a while and that I've probably seen it at least 5 times in the last month driving back from the airport).

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

Poor offensive lineman. The horizontal stripe will make them look even fatter.

"It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach."

You notice how they never show the big ugglies when they unveil the uniforms. The sleek position players look alright in most everything. Add a big belly and a dunlop around the midsection and everything changes.

As a casual Uni Watch follower, I immediately liked the striping because because it has a basis in Northwestern history. Uni Watch refers to those types of stripes (three stripes, thick stripe in the middle with two thin stripes on the outside) as Northwester stripes:

Overall I dig it. I mean let's face it, it's friggin Northwestern folks. They're never gonna be an intimidating brand. And they're stuck with purple as the featured color.

That being said -- I actually like the "away" unis better for some reason. College football should allow home teams to play whatever uniform they want (a la NFL). If that was the case, I think those away unis should be their full-time colors.